Dr. Marie Phillips

Marie Phillips grew up in Montana and worked as a waitress, cook, baker, motel maid, farmer, hod carrier, and carpenter’s apprentice during summers and after school. She attended Carroll College in Helena, Montana, and worked as an assistant secretary and music librarian during the school years. Her work, a small music scholarship, and government loans covered her education expenses. Her first teaching position was in Idaho.

Because she wanted to travel and see the world, she became a flight attendant for Pan American Airways. She trained in Miami, Florida, and was based first in New York, flying to Europe, Latin America and South America. She transferred to Seattle, Washington and flew to Alaska, Hawaii, China, Japan, The Philippines and New Zealand. She and her college sweetheart, Michael Phillips, decided to marry, and for their honeymoon, they circumnavigated the globe in a three-month trip. Pan Am employee rates of 10% on tickets and hotels made that trip of a lifetime possible.

Teaching English, speech, drama, debate, and fine arts became the focus of her education career for many years in three states: North Carolina, Florida, Montana. Marie earned her Masters Degree in Educational Leadership and her secondary principal endorsement at the University of Montana, and then she served seven years as high school principal in Montana and Washington state. She earned her Ph.D. and her superintendent endorsement from Gonzaga University while employed as an adjunct professor. She served as Pre-K-12 superintendent in Washington state for nine years.

Dr. Phillips’ home town of Libby, Montana, is the site of the worst environmental disaster area in the USA. She wrote the mystery novel, I Can’t Breathe! by H. M. Bowker (her name of origin in Libby) with the goal of exposing the corporate abuse that led to millions of deaths and illnesses originating from Libby’s asbestos mine. She also exposed child abuse and sexual abuse in this novel. Her goal is to educate readers about these types of abuse to help readers understand them, stop them, and report them when they occur. We create a safer world when we protect one another.